“Nobody thought of me as an actress. They just remembered
that publicity story about my munching flower petals for breakfast. I
even thought of giving up the name 'Piper Laurie' because I felt
there was a stigma attached to it. I never could figure out just how
many parts I lost and how many parts I won because of this name. I
know some producers and directors said, 'Well, maybe she can act even
if her name is Piper Laurie!.” Piper Laurie

Piper Laurie is a three time Academy Award nominating and Golden
Globe winning American actress. She received her first Oscar
nomination for her role as Paul Newman's girlfriend in “The
Hustler” (1961), from which she also earned a BAFTA
nomination, and her last two nominations for her scene stealing roles
in “Carrie” (1976, also earned a Golden Globe nomination)
and “Children of a Lesser God” (1986). Her other notable
film credits include “Return to Oz” (1985),
“Appointment with Death” (1988), “The Grass Harp”
(1995), “The Faculty” (1998) and “The Mao Game”
(1999). On the small screen, Laurie is best known for playing
Catherine Martel on the television series “Twin Peaks”
(1990-1991), from which she picked up her Golden Globe. The role also
brought the actress two Emmy nominations and two Soap Opera Digest
nominations. Laurie won an Emmy Award for her performance in
“Promise” (1986) for “Hallmark Hall of Fame.”
She also gained Emmy nominations for her performances in “ The
Deaf Heart” (1957), “The Days of Wine and Roses”
(1958), “The Bunker” (1981), “The Thorn Birds ”
(1983), “St. Elsewhere” (1983) and “Frasier”
(1999). Laurie also has acted in several stage productions.

Laurie has a daughter, Anne Grace Morgenstern, with her former
husband, Joe Morgenstern, whom she married for 20 years between 1962
and 1982.

Rosetta Jacobs

Childhood and Family:

Piper Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs on January 22, 1932, in
Detroit, Michigan, to a Polish immigrant father, Alfred Jacobs, who
was a furniture dealer, and a Russian American mother, Charlotte
Sadie Jacobs. Her father moved the family to Los Angeles, California
when she was six. Rosetta was a beautiful red haired little girl, but
very timid. Therefore, her parents enrolled her in elocution and
acting classes. It was not long before she developed an interest in
performance. At age 17, while at an acting school, she was spotted by
an agent from Universal Studios, who subsequently changed her screen
name to Piper Laurie. She graduated from Los Angeles High School in
1950.

When “The Hustler” was being released (1961), Laurie
was interviewed by New York Herald Tribune Entertainment writer Joe
Morgenstern( born October 3, 1932) and was attracted to him. Nine
months later, they married on January 21, 1962, and later moved to
Woodstock, New York. They welcomed a daughter, Anne Grace
Morgenstern, in 1971, but divorced later on November 24, 1982.
Laurie has an older sister named Sherrye Arlene Jacobs.

The Hustler

Career:

Piper Laurie signed contract with Universal International when she
was 17 years old. She made her feature acting debut in “Louisa”
(1950), a comedy helmed by Alexander Hall and starring Ronald Reagan
and Spring Byington in the title role. There she was cast as Reagan's
daughter, Cathy Norton. The same year, she played the daughter of
Jimmy Durante, Chris Abbott, on the film “The Milkman,”
which was directed by Charles Barton. For the next five years, Laurie
worked in a number of films, such as “Francis Goes to the
Races” (1951), “The Prince Who Was a Thief” (1951),
which marked her first collaboration with Tony Curtis, “No Room
for the Groom” (1952), “ Has Anybody Seen My Gal”
(1952), “Son of Ali Baba” (1952), “ The Mississippi
Gambler” (1953), “The Golden Blade” (1953),
“Dangerous Mission” (1954), “Johnny Dark”
(1954), “Dawn at Socorro” (1954), “Smoke Signal”
(1955) and “Ain't Misbehavin'” (1955), but
dissatisfaction against the quality of projects eventually led her to
break her studio contract and leave Hollywood for New York.

Laurie quickly plunged into the world of live television. After
making her TV debut in an episode of “ The Best of Broadway”
called “Broadway” (1955), she appeared in “Quality
Town” (1955), “Winter Dreams” (1956), “The
Road That Led Afar” (1956) and “The Ninth Day”
(1957) before receiving her first Emmy nomination for Actress - Best
Single Performance - Lead or Support for her portrayal of Ruth
Cornelius in “The Deaf Heart” (1957) for “Studio
One in Hollywood.” Her bright turn as the alcoholic wife of
Cliff Robertson in “The Days of Wine and Roses” (1958)
for “Playhouse 90” earned her another Emmy nomination for
Best Single Performance by an Actress. She also appeared in “The
Changing Ways of Love” (1957), “The Innocent Assassin”
(1959), “Caesar and Cleopatra” (1959), “You Can't
Have Everything” (1960) and “Legend of Lovers”
(1960), among other TV projects.

Laurie returned to Hollywood in 1957 and resumed her film career
by co-starring with Jean Simmons, Paul Newman and Joan Fontaine in
“Until They Sail” (1957), distributed by MGM. Her film
career gained significant boost when she was cast along side Paul
Newman in the film adaptation of Walter Tevis' “The Hustler”
(1961), which was directed and co-written by Robert Rossen. As the
halting girlfriend, Sarah Packard, she was nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and a BAFTA Film Award for
Best Foreign Actress, and earned 2nd place for Golden Laurel in the
category of Top Female Dramatic Performance. “The Hustler”
was a major critical and popular success. It marked her last film
for 15 years.

Unfortunately, significant movie roles did not come her was after
“The Hustler,” and Laurie found herself working mostly
for television. Among her television credits during this period
included appearances in episodes of “ The United States Steel
Hour,” “Naked City,” “Bob Hope Presents the
Chrysler Theatre,” “ Ben Casey,” “The
Eleventh Hour” and “Breaking Point.” By 1964, she
had moved to Woodstock, New York with her husband, where she
concentrated on raising her family, in addition to working on poetry,
paintings and sculptures. She did not take an acting job until 1967
when she assumed the role of Laura in the 20th anniversary production
of “ The Glass Menagerie”on Broadway. She followed it up
with a role in John Guare's “Marco Polo Sings a Solo”
(1973).

Laurie, however, did not resume her film career until three years
later. In 1976, she was cast as Margaret White, Sissy Space's
fiercely religious and labile mother, in the supernatural horror film
“Carrie,” which was adapted from the novel of the same
name by Stephen King. Under the direction of Brian De Palma, Spacek
and Laurie were nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress in a
Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role, respectively,
with Laurie also receiving a Golden Globe nomination in the same
category. “Carrie” was a success at the box office by
grossing over $33.8 million against a budget of $1.8 million.

Laurie next had the title role in Curtis Harrington's horror
flick, “Ruby” (1977), played Julie Quinlan in the made
for TV film “In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan” (1977),
worked with Asher Brauner, Rudy Solari and Rita Moreno in Bobby
Roth's crime/drama film “The Boss' Son” (1978), supported
Andrea McArdle, Don Murray and Michael Parks in the Emmy Award
winning TV film “Rainbow” (1978) and was cast as a widow
who hires a mentally challenged handyman in the Australian
romance/drama film “Tim” (1979), which was written and
directed by Michael Pate, based on the 1974 novel of the same title
by Colleen McCullough.

In 1980, Laurie was cast as Karl Malden's wife on the short lived
television series “Skag,” which aired on NBC from
January 6 to February 21, 1980. The series pilot episode received
critical praise and high ratings, but ratings rapidly decreased and
NBC canceled the series after five episodes. In the following year,
she gave an intense performance as Magda Goebbels, the wife of Nazi
propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, on the CBS TV film “The
Bunker,” from which she received an Emmy nomination for
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special.

Following her divorce, Laurie relocated to California, and in
1983, she gained her fourth Emmy nomination as well as her secodn
Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Anne Mueller in the
monster hit miniseries “The Thorn Birds ” (ABC, 1983).
The same year, she joined the cast of the NBC medical series “St.
Elsewhere” in the recurring role of Fran Singleton, a stroke
victim. She was nominated for a 1984 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting
Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the episode “Lust
Et Veritas” (1983).

During 1985-1989, Laurie guest starred in television series like “
Murder, She Wrote,” “Hotel,” “ The Twilight
Zone,” “ Matlock,” “Beauty and the Beast,”
as well as acted in the TV films “Love, Mary,” “
Toughlove,” “Go Toward the Light” and the TV
miniseries “ Tender Is the Night.” She also finely
portrayed Annie Gilbert in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame”
episode, “Promise” (1986), opposite James Garner and
James Woods, and won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a
Miniseries or a Special and a Golden Globe nomination for Best
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series,
Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for the performance. Laurie
also appeared in several films during the years. She played Auntie Em
in the installment “Return to Oz” (1985), was cast as
Mrs. Norman, Marlee Matlin's estrange mother, in the Randa Haines
helmed drama “Children of a Lesser God” (1987), for which
she received her third Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress,
and co-starred with Olivia Hussey and Steve Railsback in the thriller
“Distortions” (1987). She also starred as Emily Boynton
in the British mystery film “Appointment with Death”
(1988), an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name,
co-starred with Patrick Swayze in “Tiger Warsaw” (1988)
and portrayed Gena Ettinger in Marc Rocco's ten movie, “Dream
a Little Dream” (1989).

Laurie's television career gained further boost when she landed
the role of Catherine Martell on the critically acclaimed ABC serial
drama “Twin Peaks” (ABC, 1990-1991), opposite Kyle
MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick and Dana Ashbrook,
among other actors. The role brought her a Golden Globe for Best
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series,
Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, two Emmy nominations for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting
Actress in a Drama Series, and two Soap Opera Digest nominations for
Outstanding Villainess: Prime Time and Outstanding Actress: Prime
Time.

Next up for Laurie, she could be seen in such films as “Other
People's Money” (1991, with Danny DeVito, Penelope Ann Miller
and Gregory Peck), “Storyville” (1992, with James Spader,
Joanne Whalley and Jason Robards), “Rich in Love” (1992),
“Trauma” (1993), “ Love, Lies & Lullabies”
(1993, TV), “ Wrestling Ernest Hemingway” (1993),
“Shadows of Desire” (1994, TV), “Fighting for My
Daughter” (1995, TV), Charles Matthau's “The Grass Harp”
(1995), where she won a Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA)
for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Sissy Spacek's
sister, Dolly Talbo, “ The Crossing Guard” (1995), “The
Road to Galveston” (1996, TV), “ In the Blink of an Eye”
(1996, TV), “ St. Patrick's Day” (1997), “
Intensity” (1997), “A Christmas Memory” (1997, TV),
“The Faculty” (1998), “ Palmer's Pick Up”
(1999), “ Inherit the Wind” (1999, TV) and “The Mao
Game” (1999), from which she netted American Independent Award
for Special Jury Prize and Golden Space Needle Award for Best
Actress at the 19999 Seattle International Film Festival for her
portrayal of Ida Highland. Besides, she had a regular role in the
short lived series “Traps” (1994) and guest starred in
television series like “ER” (1995-1996, as Sarah Ross), “
Diagnosis Murder” (1996), “ Touched by an Angel”
(1997), “ Partners” (1999) and “Brother's Keeper”
(1999). She received her ninth Emmy nomination for her guest
appearance as Mrs. Mulhern in an episode of “Frasier”
called “Dr. Nora” (1999). On stage, Laurie co-starred in
an off Broadway production of Larry Kramer's “The Destiny of
Me” (1993).

Entering the new millennium, Laurie co-starred in the based on
fact Showtime drama “Possessed” (2000), with Timothy
Dalton, Henry Czerny and Jonathan Malen, reunited with Sissy Spacek
for the made for TV film “Midwives” (2001) and worked
with Sidney Poitier and Cody Newton in the CBS drama film “The
Last Brickmaker in America” (2001). She also guest starred in
“Will & Grace” (2000), “ Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit” (2001) and “State of Grace”
(2002). In 2004, she co-starred with Ray Romano, Jesse Bradford and
Hank Azaria in the black comedy “Eulogy” and guest
starred in an episode of “Dead Like Me.”

After guest starring role in “Cold Case” (2005),
Laurie worked in the films “Bad Blood” (2006), “The
Dead Girl” (2006), “Hounddog” (2007), “Bad
Blood... the Hunger” (2009), “Another Harvest Moon”
(2009) and “Saving Grace B. Jones” (2009). In 2010, she
played Madeleine Forney in the drama film “Hesher,”
which was written and directed by Spencer Susser and starred Joseph
Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman.